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Ben Stiller's incredible impression of Tom Cruise has just gone viral 22 years on

An old clip has resurfaced of Ben Stiller doing an impression of Tom Cruise and it's truly the most joyful thing you'll see today.

Stiller parodied Cruise in Mission Impossible while at the MTV Movie Awards in 2000 and the Top Gun actor was genuinely caught off-guard.

The pair sat down for an interview as Stiller, who was dressed in a matching outfit, joked they'd worked together so long they could 'finish each other's sentences', before mimicking Cruise's every move.

Outstanding.

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The Best Thing Mission: Impossible 2 Gave Us Was Ben Stiller As Tom Cruise's Stunt Double

A champion of the theatrical experience and one of the most daring stunt performers of all time,  Tom Cruise is a movie star from another stratosphere. Before some of his sillier roles in films like "Tropic Thunder" and "Rock of Ages," Cruise was mainly known for his intense drama and action movies. He rarely poked fun at himself or his reputation. That's why his "Mission Impossible 2" sketch with Ben Stiller from the 2003 MTV Movie Awards is such a gem.

In "Mission: Improbable," Ben Stiller plays Tom Crooze, a devoted but dim-witted stuntman who follows Tom Cruise around like a lost puppy. He believes they are BFFs and tries to emulate him in every single way — from his floppy hair, sleek sunglasses, and aggressive nodding. The juxtaposition between Crooze's obsessive dedication and Tom Cruise's apathetic acceptance of him is what makes this short so hilarious. Crooze takes his job super seriously, wanting to "become one with Tom" by overanalyzing every move he makes or anticipating everything he's going to say. Crooze never lets himself contradict Cruise, often changing what he says to agree with him. 

We also learn that Crooze was even Tom Cruise's stunt double for non-action scenes, like the sales pitch in "Magnolia," the famous "Risky Business" dance, or mixing the drinks in "Cocktail." It's funny because it's so ridiculous; Cruise is famous for doing his own stunts and they get riskier as the years go on. In the upcoming "Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part One,"  he literally drives his bike off a cliff . The parody culminates in the best way when Stiller perfectly matches Cruise's trademark laugh — boisterous and energetic, maybe a bit too much — and finishes his sentences. Ben Stiller's overall impression of Tom Cruise is eerily on point. 

The blueprint for Tropic Thunder

According to MTV Movie Awards producer Joel Gallen , this entertaining sketch almost never happened due to scheduling conflicts. Ben Stiller was on his honeymoon with Christine Taylor during the only time Tom Cruise was available. However, Cruise refused to do the short film with anyone else. After a pleading email from Joel Gallen, Ben Stiller agreed to cut his honeymoon short, boarded a 15-hour flight, and returned to shoot what would become one of the funniest MTV Movie Award skits ever. 

Looking back at it now, "Mission: Improbable" feels like the blueprint for  Ben Stiller's Hollywood satire "Tropic Thunder,"  released five years later. Both mock self-important performers who take their craft too seriously. Stiller plays Tugg Speedman, a dumbed-down, Tom Cruise-esque action star looking for a comeback as a serious actor in his own version of "Born on the Fourth of July," a Vietnam War drama based on a bestselling memoir. As Speedman, Stiller brings the same over-the-top cluelessness and macho posturing as he did playing Tom Crooze.  

The real Tom Cruise was actually up for the role of Tugg Speedman. While it would have been really interesting to see Tom Cruise parody himself, his unexpected turn as Les Grossman is even better. Cruise completely transforms himself into a sleazy, bald Hollywood producer who dances to Flo Rida's "Low" and is willing to let Speedman die for a huge insurance payout. We rarely, if ever, see Cruise in such a repulsive role. According to an oral history of the character , Tom Cruise came up with Grossman himself. "Mission: Improbable" laid the groundwork for Tom Cruise and Ben Stiller as a dynamic comedy duo.

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This old Ben Stiller impression of Tom Cruise has just gone viral and it’s a most welcome 16 seconds escape

Poke Staff. Updated August 24th, 2022

For reasons that aren’t entirely clear or important, this old clip of Ben Stiller doing a hilarious impression of Tom Cruise – in front of Tom Cruise – has just gone wildly viral.

And not only is it a very welcome escape from everything else that is going on right now, it’s also very, very good.

Not for nothing did it go viral in the subReddit called r/contagiouslaughter.

‘Spot on.’ HuffnDobak ‘Which one is Tom Cruise again?’ OffbeatBat ‘And thus the friendship that would become Tropic Thunder began.’ GearJunkie82 ‘It started when Ben Stiller did “The Hustler of Money.” ‘They were supposed to do a Hardy Boys movie together called “Hardy Men” but it never happened, and we got Tropic Thunder instead.’ canteen_boy ‘F-ckk I want that movie.’ TMA_01 ‘These shorts during the MTV movie awards were amazing. “Now I’m just thinking crazy here, what if, just spit balling, what if right before Tom Cruise crashes into that guy mid air… time freezes, we zoom in on Tom..He turns to the camera, and says “this mission just got a hell of a lot more impossibler” SeedyRedwood

And the clip in full …

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Discussion of the Impact of Stiller’s Portrayal on Cruise’s Public Image

While Stiller’s impression of Cruise was intended to be comedic, it did have an impact on Cruise’s public image. Some viewers began to see Cruise in a different light, and his reputation as a serious actor was somewhat overshadowed by Stiller’s parody.

However, Cruise himself has been a good sport about the impression and has even made appearances in some of Stiller’s sketches, showing that he has a sense of humor about the situation.

Overall, while Stiller’s impression of Cruise may have had some unintended consequences, it has ultimately become a beloved part of pop culture and has cemented both Stiller and Cruise’s legacies in the entertainment industry.

In conclusion, Ben Stiller’s impression of Tom Cruise is a testament to the power of comedy. Stiller’s ability to capture Cruise’s mannerisms and quirks has made audiences worldwide laugh for years, cementing both actors’ places in pop culture history.

Stiller’s impression has not only brought joy to millions of fans, but it has also helped shape Cruise’s public image. By poking fun at himself through Stiller’s portrayal, Cruise has shown that he doesn’t take himself too seriously, endearing himself to audiences even more.

As we continue to enjoy Stiller’s impression of Tom Cruise, one thing is clear: the power of laughter is universal. Thank you for joining me on this journey through the history of Ben Stiller as Tom Cruise. We hope you found this article informative and entertaining.

Remember to stay tuned to Luv68 for all the latest news and updates on your favorite celebrities, movies, and TV shows.

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Ben Stiller Left His Honeymoon For 2000 Movie Awards Skit With Tom Cruise

It was nearly a decade ago that Ben Stiller and Tom Cruise hooked up for one of the most memorable MTV Movie Awards short films of all time. In a new special airing airing Saturday at 8 p.m. ET, "Movie Awards Confidential," we take a look at some of the most memorable moments in the show's history -- and one of those is the "Mission: Impossible II" stuntman film from 2000.

The short film stars Stiller as Tom Cruise's loyal and sometimes clueless stuntman, Tom Crooze. However, the funny clip almost didn't happen.

"I very much wanted Tom Cruise to be on the Movie Awards," Joel Gallen recalled. "But then he realized he had already committed to be at the ['Mission: Impossible II'] premiere in someplace in Korea, so there was no way he could be at our show that night."

Once they realized they could get Cruise for a short film to air that night, they knew they had to get Stiller onboard. But there was another problem -- Stiller was on his honeymoon and wasn't around to shoot it during Cruise's minimal time frame. But Cruise wouldn't do it with anyone but him.

"I wrote Ben an e-mail: 'I know it's your honeymoon and everything but what if you came back two days early? What do you think?' " Gallen said. Stiller later agreed. "Then he goes, 'I really do want to do this film.' "

So Stiller and his wife Christine Taylor packed up and headed back to the States to make the short film happen. "We just left a day early," Stiller remembered. "We had to fly 15 hours to get there, which made it even better."

The best part came when Stiller finally got the chance to meet the man he had been parodying for so long. "I never had the experience of actually doing him to his face, and he was sitting at the monitor and he started cracking up watching and I knew it was OK," he said. "The part where we're both laughing is kinda real, because we're both laughing at the absurdity of the moment."

Will the vampires grab more trophies than the slumdog? What was the year's ultimate onscreen WTF moment? It's up to you to decide the winners of the 2009 MTV Movie Awards . Vote now, and tune in on May 31 at 9 p.m. ET, when the big show airs live from the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California.

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more -- updated around the clock -- visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .

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Revisiting Ben Stiller's Brief Stint as an SNL Cast Member

When we think about Ben Stiller's early career, we tend to think of The Ben Stiller Show and Reality Bites, two acclaimed works that came before he fully broke into the mainstream. The next 25 years of his career — from There’s Something About Mary to the Fockers , the Tenenbaums , and the Night (s) at the Museum — are seared into the collective unconscious of anyone breathing over the same span. But aside from a few cameo appearances, Ben Stiller has laid low since he directed Escape at Dannemora four years ago. That drought ends this week when Severance , a limited series thriller for which Stiller directed six of nine episodes, premieres on Apple TV+. Looking back at his career, few corners of it could qualify as being under-explored… except for one. In celebration of Stiller's return to TV, let's revisit his brief stint as a cast member on Saturday Night Live .

Before Stiller had his own sketch show, he joined the Not Ready for Prime Time Players as a featured player in the back half of the show's 14th season in the spring of 1989. The cast at the time included Dana Carvey, Jon Lovitz, Jan Hooks, and Phil Hartman. Mike Myers was another freshman. Opportunity was there for the taking, and Stiller already had a track record of success getting airtime on the show. Two years earlier, he'd self-produced and starred in a parody of the Tom Cruise/Paul Newman pool-shark movie The Color of Money ; Lorne Michaels liked it and put it on the show . Some people grasp for airtime like that their whole careers and never make it. Which made what happened next somewhat surprising.

Stiller was asked to join the cast as a featured player, but only lasted four episodes. His time on Saturday Night Live was so brief it only warranted a throwaway mention in Live From New York , the exhaustive oral history of the show by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales. Said mention was as part of a longer story about Stiller bailing on a scheduled hosting gig in the wake of the September 11 attacks. (That’s on page 535 of the paperback, if you’re interested in learning more about that .)

Looking back, a number of the things that initially made Stiller famous were present during his short time on the show. Admittedly, most of Stiller’s appearances were small parts, and so the few sketches Stiller appeared in are difficult to find unless you have a subscription to Peacock, where all four episodes from March 25 to April 22 1989 are available for streaming. One sketch, called “Celebrity Restaurant” (below) lives on on Youtube because, for a brief second, you can see Stiller, Conan O’Brien, Dana Carvey, and Bob Odenkirk in the same frame, a kind of tasteful stoner's Mount Rushmore of '90s comedy. Stiller’s character appears to be arrogant and dismissive, a real jackass in a suit — a role he’d reprise five years later, in Reality Bites .

Stiller also briefly shared the screen with another comedy legend, Mary Tyler Moore. In a sketch called “Customs,” she plays an a customs agent whose disarming demeanor makes everyone she meets admit what they’re smuggling into the country. Phil Hartman didn’t want to pay the duty on a bracelet for his wife, Kevin Nealon is a spy, and Dana Carvey admits to smuggling a ton of cocaine. Stiller’s crime is minor by comparison — he cut the line — and doesn’t require any real banter with Moore. They would end up reuniting a seven years later, in David O’Russell’s Flirting With Disaster , in which Moore played Stiller's mom.

Stiller also appeared in the very first Sprockets sketch, which would become a huge recurring hit for Mike Myers. Both men ended up certified movie stars eventually, and were, beyond the show, effectively A-list comedy peers. But only Myers was backed by Broadway Video. He’s still working out the Sprockets formula here — Dieter does not shout anything, in fact it’s all very reserved compared to what the character would become. The same goes for Stiller. He debuted his Eddie Munster impression in this sketch, then took it with him to The Ben Stiller Show , where it became a recurring bit. It’s like a Comedy Extended Universe crossover sketch, but at the time, neither guy nor character were famous. This sketch existed on the internet at one point, but for now we'll have to settle for this 45-minute supercut someone made of Eddie Munster’s appearances on The Ben Stiller Show .

Stiller’s most lasting contribution to SNL was probably what initially got him on the show: his Tom Cruise impression. Once he joined the cast, it only took two episodes before he broke it out again, this time playing Cruise’s character from Rain Man (above). It can be strange to see a younger Stiller playing someone this intense and unlikeable. His Cruise impression is closer to White Goodman, the villain from Dodgeball , than it is to Greg Focker or Ted from There’s Something About Mary . Of course, Stiller would take that impression with him, too — all the way to a famous sketch with Cruise himself for the 2000 MTV Movie Awards.

It was Stiller’s desire to direct that led to his brief SNL gig. When he joined, he wanted to make short films like Albert Brooks did at the very beginning of Saturday Night Live . It’s what got him on the show in the first place, after all. Once he realized he’d just be a sketch performer, he split.

It’s fun to think about what might have been if Stiller stayed — Sandler, Rock, Farley, Meadows, Schneider, and Spade joined the show only a few years later. Would he have thrived and become famous alongside them, or fall into the background? Would we lose his friendship with Owen Wilson? What if Ben Stiller played opposite Farley in Tommy Boy instead of Spade? We’ll never know, but clearly it worked out well for everyone involved.

Connor Simpson writes occasionally, but bartends more often. He knows how curling works and loves a chilled red. You can follow him on Twitter  @connorsimpson .

TOPICS: Ben Stiller , NBC , The Ben Stiller Show , Saturday Night Live , Severance , Lorne Michaels , Mary Tyler Moore , Mike Myers , Tom Cruise

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Mission: impossible 2's mtv parody cast ben stiller as stuntman tom crooze.

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It's been over 20 years since MTV cast Ben Stiller in a parody skit about Mission: Impossible 2 , but here's why it nearly didn't happen. The parody aired as part of the 2000 MTV Movie Awards, the same year the sequel premiered. Stiller, who is arguably best known for his roles in the Zoolander  and  Night at the Museum franchises, starred in the skit alongside M: I lead  Tom Cruise  himself.

In Mission: Impossible 2 , Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is tasked by the Impossible Missions Force to track down the Chimera. This genetically modified virus was hijacked by rogue agent Sean Ambrose, and Hunt enlists the help of Ambrose's ex-girlfriend and professional thief Nyah Nordoff-Hall (Thandiwe Newton) to put a stop to his evil schemes. Four more films have followed since and another two are the works, with  Mission: Impossible 7  set for release in 2022.

Related: Why Ben Stiller Wanted to Cut Tom Cruise's Tropic Thunder Dance

In MTV's " Mission: Improbable " spoof, Stiller plays an eccentric stunt double who changed his name to Tom Crooze. He's got a similar look to his superstar counterpart, but certainly not the smarts. The parody follows Crooze - who is ever so loyal to the real Cruise - in a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Mission: Impossible 2 's stunts . The skit also includes moments when Crooze acts as a double in brief scenes from movies like  Risky Business -  clearly exaggerating the need for a stuntman in some decidedly non-action movies. What makes the parody so funny is Crooze's over-the-top dedication to his job, though a straight-faced Cruise declares he's harmless.

As memorable as the sketch is, it almost didn't happen. According to MTV , Joel Gallen, who produced the MTV Movie Awards at the time, had an idea to create something based on  Mission: Impossible 2.  He wanted Cruise to take part but found out the actor had to attend a premiere overseas. The idea came to do a short instead, based around Cruise's limited availability, and air it during the ceremony. Once the idea was put into action, MTV wanted to get Stiller on board too. Cruise, who famously does many of his own stunts , approved, saying he wouldn't do it with anyone else. But there was a problem; Stiller was on his honeymoon with then-wife Christine Taylor and wasn't available to shoot during the timeframe Cruise was free.

Gallen sent Stiller an email asking if there was any chance he could leave his honeymoon early to shoot the parody. He thought it was a long shot, but it turned out Stiller was really interested in doing the project. Stiller and Taylor then cut their honeymoon short and flew fifteen hours back to the United States for "Mission: Improbable." The best part of filming came when Stiller finally got the chance to meet the man he had been parodying. He was glad to see Cruise laughing from behind the monitor, and their on-screen laughter during the moment where they're talking about finishing each other's sentences is genuine. Indeed, that moment between Ben Stiller and Cruise ended up being one of the most memorable moments in the award show's history.

Next: Night At The Museum 4 Updates: Will The Ben Stiller Sequel Happen?

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Ben Stiller left his honeymoon early just to make fun of Tom Cruise right in front of him

The night at the museum star wasn't able to resist the opportunity.

Emily Brown

You have to be able to prioritize in life, and for Ben Stiller, that apparently meant abandoning his honeymoon in order to meet up with Tom Cruise and take the p*ss out of him.

It might not be the choice everyone would make, but it at least made for a very funny video.

It all went down back in 2001, after Cruise had returned to the role of Ethan Hunt to star in the 2000 movie Mission: Impossible II.

The film earned nominations for Best Male Performance and Best Action Sequence at the 2001 MTV Movie Awards, and in honor of the ceremony, MTV Movie Awards producer Joel Gallen wanted Cruise to get involved.

Speaking to MTV, he explained: "I very much wanted Tom Cruise to be on the Movie Awards. But then he realized he had already committed to be at the [ Mission: Impossible II ] premiere someplace in Korea, so there was no way he could be at our show that night."

With Cruise out of town, the producers decided to ask him to create a short film which they could air at the ceremony. The movie would also involve Stiller , but there was just one issue - Stiller had just got married to his wife Christine Taylor and the couple were on their honeymoon.

Obviously he wouldn't abandon that to come back and work, would he?

Gallen recalled: "I wrote Ben an e-mail: 'I know it's your honeymoon and everything but what if you came back two days early? What do you think?'"

Stiller had been parodying Cruise for ages, but had never before had the opportunity to do it to his face. As it turned out, the chance to take the p*ss out of Cruise was too good to resist.

"I really do want to do this film," Stiller replied.

He and Taylor packed up and headed back to the US a day early, embarking on a 15-hour flight to get to the shoot in time.

In the short, Stiller starred as Cruise's loyal stuntman, Tom Crooze, even going as far as to dress up as the star.

"I never had the experience of actually doing him to his face, and he was sitting at the monitor and he started cracking up watching and I knew it was OK," Stiller recalled. "The part where we're both laughing is kinda real, because we're both laughing at the absurdity of the moment."

And fans of the short are still loving the parody more than two decades later, with one fan commenting: "The gestures, the laugh, the slap on the back... Ben Stiller is a legendary comedic actor."

Topics:  Tom Cruise , Celebrity , Film and TV , Viral

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.

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Ben Stiller Confirms Tom Cruise Invented Tropic Thunder's Les Grossman Entirely on His Own

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If you were one of the lucky filmgoers who saw Tropic Thunder on the big screen back in 2008, you left theaters with one image: Tom Cruise , almost unrecognizable, shaking his ass to Ludacris's "Get Back" during the end credits.

Known mostly for taking dramatic parts at the time, the world was surprised to see Cruise don prosthetics and go full-send into spoofdom to become Les Grossman, the evil studio executive pulling the strings behind Tropic Thunder 's film-within-a-film. Now, in a new interview for Esquire's "Explain This" video series Ben Stiller —who directed and starred in Tropic Thunder— opened up about Cruise's antics as Grossman. "Tom Cruise had the idea to play Les Grossman in the movie," Stiller says. "That part did not exist. He said, 'Well, there's no studio executive and that would be really fun to be that guy. And he had this whole idea of what the guy should look like. It was his idea to dance. And I remember when we did a makeup test, someone handed him a Diet Coke and then he just started moving."

Stiller's story matches what Cruise told told BBC Radio 1 back in 2017. "I read the script, and he had all of the characters, but the studio wasn’t there," he said. "There was a structural compression missing down on those characters, you know, that keeps the pressure on these guys that really drives the story. I was like, 'You need the studio.'"

We're still waiting for an update on the reported Les Grossman solo movie , but the image of Tom Cruise tripping out on Diet Coke will tide us over for now. You can watch Stiller's full "Explain This" interview above. Below? We left a little something for you to relive.

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